Jimmy Horn Shows Out As Receivers Group Eyes Explosive Passing Attack
By Joey Johnston
USF football coming attractions: Jimmy Horn Jr.
He's a freshman wide receiver. A 5-foot-9, 160-pound rocket from Sanford Seminole High School, where he and fellow freshman Timmy McClain, a quarterback, captured the Class 8A state football championship.
Horn also ran a 10.8 in the 100 meters to place fourth in the Class 8A state track and field meet.
His physical skills are unquestioned. Friday morning, Horn peeled back the curtain on his talent. He took a short slant pass from Cade Fortin, turned upfield with a quick pivot and outran five defenders on a 55-yard play that ended in with Horn in the endzone and the nearest defender nearly 10 yards in his rearview.
That play came after a 50-yard diving catch on Thursday's first day of USF fall camp.
"Jimmy is definitely going to be a special one,'' Bulls offensive coordinator Charlie Weis said. "Obviously, the speed is ridiculous.''
"His speed is one of a kind,'' Bulls junior slot receiver Bryce Miller said.
 Weis said Horn possesses more than just speed, though.
"He's longer than we thought, long arms, very rangy,'' Weis said. "He can catch a variety of balls off the body and do some good things there. He obviously has to continue to work on route-running, but he has great speed and can track the ball.''
Bigger Backs
Weis said he was pleased with the early work of the newcomers at running back, particularly junior Jaren Mangham (6-2, 215, a transfer from Colorado) and K'wan Powell (5-9, 200, a freshman from Vernon High).
"Last year, a lot of our backs had similar skill sets,'' Weis said. "It was important for us to go out and get bigger guys for short-yardage or goal-line situations, guys who can help us finish runs when we need to gain a yard.
"Powell has (gotten bigger). He's a big back. You can see that when he's out there. He's physical and runs through arm tackles.''
Offensive Priorities
Weis listed his top three priorities for offensive improvement.
* Limit the tackles for losses and sacks.
* Cut down on turnovers, especially fumbles, and emphasize that in practice.
* Add more explosiveness to the passing game.
USF's receivers agreed that Bobby Bentley, the new passing-game coordinator, will make it a priority to stretch the field.
"We're definitely going to take more shots down the field than we did last year,'' Miller said. "Coach Bentley loves taking those shots. He's telling the quarterbacks to do that a lot more instead of being conservative.''
"We're going to be able to spread the field and do different things,'' Bulls junior receiver Latrell Williams said. "We had a little glimpse of that in the UCF game. We're going to give different looks and do things USF hasn't done in past seasons.''
Deeper Receiver Room
In addition to freshmen such as Horn, USF has improved its receiving depth with transfers, such as sophomore Yusuf Terry (6-3, 189, Baylor) and junior Demarcus Gregory (6-1, 200, Ole Miss).
"Similar to the running back position, we have gotten bigger at receiver,'' Weis said. "We're building some depth. We want to play between six to eight guys, rotate them to stay fresh and play with tempo.''
"We will be much bigger on the outside,'' freshman receiver Omarion Dollison said. "With that kind of depth, we're three-deep at every (receiving) position. It's good to have somebody behind you. We have a lot of guys who will contribute.''
Offseason Work
Now that the Bulls are in fall camp, the benefits of offseason work are becoming apparent. The Bulls held a series of player-led practices — coordinated by Fortin, tight end Mitchell Brinkman, center Brad Cecil, linebacker Dwayne Boyles and safety Mekhi LaPointe.
"We would do 7-on-7 and get a lot of work in,'' Miller said. "Those guys held everybody accountable and made sure players were there. They earned a lot of respect and people listened to them. They gained that kind of respect just because of the way they worked.''
